Jul 25 2008
The Real Breatharian?
Back in the 80′s I read a book about the connection between diet and spirituality. The author proposed that there is a hierarchy of diet types, progressing from the lowly carnivorous diet, through vegetarian into fruitarian, and finally arriving at the enlightened “breatharian” state. I’m not kidding. And the idea still lives. Here’s a quote from the Breatharian Institute of America:
A Breatharian is a person who can, under the proper conditions, live with or without eating physical food.
Apparently there is enough nourishment for our souls and even our corporal bodies in the air and the surrounding energy fields. If only we could attain the proper level of spirituality.
Egads. And a white wafer becomes transformed into the body of Jesus when a priest says the magic words.
There does exist in the real world a plant that might be called a breatharian. Or a rainarian. It is the epiphytic bromeliad, found in abundance here in Florida. They attach to trees but gain no nutrients from them. Instead, they rely on what is in the air and the rainwater. Equipped with a fine enough filter we could see there is a significant bit of stuff in both, not to mention the hydrogen, oxygen, carbon, etc. air and water actually consist of.
Me, I’m a lowly omnivore. Maybe I should erect an altar to epiphytic bromeliads, and start worshipping them. That might keep me from salivating over steaks. Damn salivary glands!
